Hands-On Breguet Type XX Chronographe 2075BH

Breguet is on a roll right now, and what better timing could they have? The brand is embarking on a world tour to celebrate its 250th birthday with a series of exceptional releases that reflect its storied heritage. First was Paris with the Classique Souscription. Then Shanghai with the Tradition Seconde Rétrograde, which was inspired by their Montre à Tact pocket watches. Now they've brought back the Type XX the way it should have been done years ago: manually wound and 38mm – albeit in a Breguet gold case to celebrate the anniversary. But we'll get to all that in a second.

The (re)relaunch of the Type XX Chronographe with the 2075BH is (nearly) how the watch should have been all along. But it signals that something bigger is going on behind the scenes at Breguet.

In 2023, Breguet relaunched what my colleague Rich Fordon aptly called arguably the most important wristwatch in the brand's history – the Type XX and Type 20. That's a bold claim for what is likely the most important name in watches, but a smart one. When examining the brand's 250-year history, much of its successful innovation occurred during its pocket watch era.

I was at the launch of the Type XX. I was rooting for the watch and the brand. However, I felt that the new Type XX was a miss – a compromise for broader commercial appeal, rather than the best product that Breguet could have made. The brand's then CEO Lionel a Marca told me as much, saying this about the choice to put a date on the watch: "We are living now in the 21st century, and given the current trends, a watch that doesn't feature a calendar wouldn't really be appreciated by the clients."

But things have suddenly changed. Marca isn't the CEO anymore. Gregory Kissling, the former VP of Product at Omega, was tapped to take on the role late last year and has quickly enacted one of the most remarkable turnarounds I've seen. With his background as a microtechnology engineer, MBA, and Master's degree in Luxury Management, and heading the precious metals side of the Swatch Group, Kissling has already pushed the team to institute massive changes that put the product first. Ahead of the launch of the new Type XX, Kissling told me in an interview (which we published earlier this week) that, essentially, the best product should justify itself.

Which is how we've gotten two of the best product launches I've seen from Breguet in a long time. It's too early to say for certain, but under Kissling, it looks as though Breguet is back on track.

The first thing that I gathered looking at the Souscription launched earlier this year and the new Type XX launches is that instead of amalgamating 250 years of brand heritage into one watch, the team is respecting the heritage of a specific watch. It's a specific period in time—each watch is a microcosm of an era. Instead of placing the Souscription in an "empire" case, they used the traditional case found on Souscription pocket watches. So dropping the date on the new Type XX was an obvious and welcome choice, but the brand went further.

I will say that I'm not sure I love the movement treatment, but I can elaborate on that later. What I do love is that Breguet has taken the cal. 728 that launched in 2023 and modified to form the manual-winding 7279 (for the black dial with a 15-minute counter) and caliber 7278 (for the silver dial with a 30-minute counter and tachymeter). This divergence is rooted in the history of the watch, where different versions of the vintage Type XX had varying maximum chronograph measures.

Most people would immediately associate the Type XX with black dials, making it the obvious choice at first glance. A black dial and gold case are also the most coveted vintage combination for many models, so it makes sense that it would be the bold choice for the non-limited release of the pair. Breguet introduced one of the first original Type XXs made in yellow gold, featuring a black dial with luminous Arabic numerals. But there's a catch.

Like the Souscription release, Kissling and the team have decided to focus on historical accuracy with the limited-edition silver dial. When Breguet looked into their archives for information on their museum's 1955 civilian Type XX ref. 1780 – the first gold Type XX the brand made – they found that it was originally delivered with a solid silver dial featuring a tachymeter scale. The black dial was later swapped in.

As a result, one of the two releases features a solid silver dial. That little wrinkle makes it my favorite, but it's also limited to only 250 pieces. The vertically brushed dial is punctuated by a stunningly applied, raised Breguet logo at 12 o'clock and balanced by the script "retour en vol" (French for "flyback"). The subdials feature a snailed inner texture and a ringed outer brushing that complements the circular brushing on the tachymeter section of the dial.

I don't spend much time thinking about fonts on modern watches unless they're truly bad or truly great, but here, the mix is just fantastic. The rendering of the tachymeter, featuring elegant serifed fonts that match the serifs of "Swiss Made," adds a level of elevation that works well with the single 12 and 6 o'clock numerals and stick indices. It also has a different handset, with more sword-like hour and minute hands and a blued chronograph hand that has a small inset section of lume. That's also an unusual choice because the rest of the dial has no lume.

The movement treatment is a bit more curious to me. Breguet took this as a storytelling opportunity, honoring Dieudonné Costes and Maurice Bellonte, the first people to fly from Paris to New York, which was accomplished in just over 37 hours from September 1 to 2, 1930. The movement features an engraving of their route, as well as their Breguet 19TR Super Bidon, which was decorated with a large question mark on either side of its fuselage. However, the engraving feels more like a rough sketch than a fully-fledged piece of art. A vintage chronograph lover might want to see more of the actual movement's workings, but a large ¾ plate covers those up. Maybe this is the most that could be done with the modifications, but it left me wanting more.

That said, the relatively thin 32.2mm by 6mm movement creates an efficient yet compact package. Manually wound, the movement features a 60-hour power reserve from a single barrel and runs at 5Hz, utilizing a flat silicon hairspring. The sapphire caseback has an internal anti-reflective coating.

As much as I liked the silver dial, the black is plenty compelling. The large matte black anodized aluminum surface soaks up light and makes it look a lot larger (and increases legibility, by quite a bit). The vintage-hued lume has a green emission but still makes the watch look appropriately vintage and less stark than white would have been against the Breguet gold case. There is also a secret signature of "Al" for the aluminum dial, located between 7 and 8 o'clock.

The use of brushing and polishing helps the watch pop. The twisted lyre lugs and polished pump pushers catch light and shadow while not being too distracting, and the rest of the case and bezel are brushed to keep reflections at bay (and will probably help extend longevity on high-scratch surfaces).

Breguet estimates that there are approximately 53 grams of Breguet gold in these cases, but they don't feel particularly heavy on the wrist. That's how precious metal watches just naturally balance out when you're used to wearing a stainless steel watch on a bracelet. The black-dialed variation is listed on the caseback as No. XXX NY (for New York), while the silver dial is numbered out of 250, with No. XXX PA (for Paris). Breguet has decided to return to earlier days with a more traditional Special Edition 250th Anniversary box, crafted in red leather and individually numbered, inspired by the red Breguet Moroccan leather cases of the period.

At only 38.3mm by 13.2mm thick (nearly 1mm thinner than the 2023 release), this is precisely the size I'd want my Type XX watches to be. It's turned the Type XX from a watch that I loved the idea and history of to one that I love in practice. At CHF 36,500 for the black dial and to CHF 38,000 for the silver, the only problem is that it's over twice the launch price of the steel versions ($18,000). I mentioned to Kissling that we'll inevitably get questions about watches in the same form factor, just in a more affordable material. His response: "Stay tuned."